Author Archives: ambenson

Children’s Game: The Fart Touch

Nationality: African American
Age: 58
Performance Date: April 22, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following has been transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“And, there was this really strange one that we used to do. I was just talking to [my brother] about this. We can’t figure out why this was like a ritual. We had to do this. But it was something that we all did and it was something that we had to do. Now, it’s a little gross, but it has to do with flatulence. So, whenever anybody farted, we had to run and touch glass. And if you were the last one to touch a piece of glass then you had ‘the fart touch’ until somebody else farted and you weren’t the last person to touch glass. Then, they would have ‘the fart touch.’

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore in an over-the-phone interview. The informant, my uncle, played this game with his friends and brother while growing up from elementary school to middle school. He is an African American who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

Thoughts/Analysis:

This piece of folklore is something that in my informant’s social group would consist of boys. This piece of folklore takes a natural bodily function and turns it into a game. It makes fun of the idea of farting in public and also brings an aspect of shame to farting because of “the fart touch.” This game acts as an outlet for young boys to discuss the human body in a way that is frowned upon by society. It, in a way, encourages farting in public so that the game can be played, but also discourages it with “the fart touch.” A possible reason that the boys had to touch glass is because glass is usually considered a clean object. People tend to clean glass more because it is obvious when glass is dirty. So, touching glass in this case is kind of like cleansing yourself from this “gross” act of farting. It’s interesting that my informant, as he is older, now finds this game that he would weird, and he can’t remember why he would do it. I think a part of the rush why kids would do it is because it would have frowned upon by grown-ups. So, as my informant got older and more inclined to agree with grown-ups about its gross nature, the game would lose its appeal in the same way that fart jokes are seen as immature as you get older.

Horror Story/Joke: The Coffin

Nationality: African American
Age: 51
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the interviewer and the informant.

“Okay, so, one time when I was in the boy scouts, um, we all wanted to be told a horror story. So, the person in charge said okay, they had a story about a coffin. And it was the middle of the night. All the kids were, you know sleeping when they heard a creak. And, um, so we, everyone got up to see what the noise was, and they, you know, there was a coffin in the middle of the way, and no one know where it came from. And then suddenly, it started moving towards us. And at first, everyone just thought, okay, someone’s playing a trick. But then it just started to you know [imitates the noise of the coffin moving] ‘thump, thump, thump.’ And started getting closer to us and closer. And this is crazy, you know, so we started to run, and for some reason, we got stuck in the house. And it came in the house. [imitates noise again, ‘thump, thump’] And we were like, everyone was just stuck in a corner and was scared and didn’t know what to do. And just when it was about to, you know reach where we were, um, someone just put out a cough drop to stop the coughin’.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore from the informant, my father, in an interview inside the informant’s house. The informant heard this while he was in elementary school. He remembered that everyone laughed after hearing the story and afterwards, he would tell other people the story.

Thoughts/Analysis:

This “horror story” slash joke uses the play on words of coffin and coughin’ in order to fool the audience and surprise them in the end. This demonstrates a type of joke that kids are usually interested in which is word play. It also is drawing on the enjoyment of tricking an audience to believe one thing until the punchline. The mild punchline in this case also makes the story accessible to children.

Narrative: “When I was your age…”

Nationality: African American
Age: 51
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

Piece of Folklore:

“My father used to tell me this story usually when we weren’t being grateful, so, he just, if we were being lazy or you know. So he would just kind of tell us how we really had it, how easy we had it today ‘cause when he was growing up. You know, he grew up in Indiana you know. He used to have to go to school, you know. And it would be snowing pretty heavily, and he couldn’t afford shoes. So, he had to walk to school in bare feet, and he was thankful that he had, even though he had no shoes when going to school, he was thankful for school. And he would have to go all the way to school and there was like this really steep hill. He went up the hill to reach the school and after school on his way home, somehow, it was another, you know, there was another steep hill too. And he walked up the steep hill both ways you know to school and back and he was thankful. And, so stop your complaining.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore from the informant, my father, inside the informant’s house during an interview. The only reason I knew this was folklore was because when I was growing up my middle school band teacher used to tell me the same story about when he was growing up. What’s interesting about it is that my band teacher grew up in California where there was little to no snow, so I know his was just a story. But I thought it was interesting how my informant’s father who grew up in Indiana knew the same story even though the two states are almost on opposites side of the country.

My Thoughts:

This piece of folklore is a way to represent how easy kids have it today compared to previous generations. Even though whoever is telling the story most likely did not have to walk to school, barefoot, through the snow climbing uphill both ways, it is meant to represent a time when many families did not have access to the kind of resources that are available today. Even though the people telling the story probably have access to everything they would need in order to get their kids to school safely, this story comments on the progress of technology and the overall increase in wealth of our nation. At one point in time, there probably were people that had to walk in the snow (hopefully not barefoot) long distances to get to school. But now, the overall quality of life due to advances in technology has made an occurrence like that less likely with school buses, driving, and car pools, kids should be able to get to school in the snow without too much of a struggle. So, this story is really commenting on the progression of our society.

Proverb: “A Hard Head Makes a Soft Behind”

Nationality: African American
Age: 51
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

“Okay, so, our mother, you know, growing up, we would, you know do things that would get us in trouble. Her warning was ‘A hard head makes a soft behind.'”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore in an interview at the informant’s house. My informant, my father, was told this by his mother while he was in elementary school. He responded that this proverb/warning was always effective, and he always listened to his mother after he heard it. In this piece of folklore, I think it’s important to note that my informant is African American.

My Thoughts:

The meaning of this proverb slash warning is quite clear. A parent would warn their child when they are being troublesome, stubborn, disrespectful, or just hard headed that it would result in a spanking. I believe that spanking children is more common among African Americans than other ethnic groups, so this proverb may be more prominent among the African American community. This proverb is a direct warning to children to stop misbehaving or they will suffer a physical consequence.

Children’s Fart Game: ‘Doorknob’

Nationality: African American
Age: 21
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

The following is transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

Main Piece:

“So around the time I was in middle school with my friends, we would play a game where….. um I don’t remember the exact rules for…. So if basically, if someone farts and then if one of your friends say ‘doorknob’ before you say ‘safety’ then they get to basically punch you until you find a doorknob and touch it.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore inside the informant’s house during an interview. The informant, my brother, is an African American male who grew up in California. He learned this game from one of his friends while in middle school, and he recalls enjoying playing with his friends even though he stopped once he entered high school.

My Thoughts:

This piece of folklore which was only played with my informant and his male friends shows a type of policing in order to create proper etiquette, but also makes a natural bodily function into a game. This game polices the act of farting (which is frowned upon in public) by making it okay to punch the person who farted if they do not say “safety” fast enough. It also turns farting into a game by simply making it an interactive game for young boys to play. In this case, the doorknob could represent a type of escape.

Annotation:

For another version of this game see http://uscfolklorearc.wpenginepowered.com/?p=12440